A Blurred Reflection
by Batsy Rocks
Summary: "He is only a human and you are Superman! You're supposed to be there to protect him! To save him!" - Clark and Bruce travel to an alternate universe. Bruce is missing and Clark meets Superman.
1. Missing

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Justice League or any of its characters. Sadly.

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Clark descended slowly, keeping his feet from touching the ground as he hovered over the man standing on top of the bridge. It was disturbing, seeing another man wearing his suit, crest, and face. It took a second for the words to leave his mouth, but when they did his tone was hard and commanding. Bruce would have been proud.

"Where is he?"

Superman lifted his head in a slow, deliberate move, deep blue eyes meeting Clark's. "Safe."

"Safe!? You kidnapped him! You-"

"I _removed_ him from a dangerous situation. He was hurt and about to be shot while you were busy playing the hero!"

Clark clenched his fists, struggling not to show even the smallest sign of guilt. Bruce and he still had been trying to figure out where they had been transported to when they had been attacked by ... odd-shaped being. With just a look, they had split; Bruce fighting on the ground while he attacked from the sky. He was keeping an eye on Bruce, like he always did, when two of the beings had attacked him, followed by three more. It had been enough to throw him to the ground, and by the time he had neutralized them and looked around, Bruce hadn't been there anymore.

It had taken him precious minutes to take care of the beings before he was able to look for Bruce.

"Where is he?" Clark growled.

Superman glared; eyes dark with fury and a glimpse of crimson flashing in them. "I'm not going to let _you_ take _him._ I'm not going to let your carelessness get him _killed!"_

Clark flinched. "I didn't-"

"He's only _human_ and you're _Superman!_ You're supposed to be there to protect him! To save him!"

Superman's feet left the ground as he floated to look at Clark straight in the eye, teeth bared in a snarl as he moved forward, his face mere inches from Clark's. "I'm not going to let you kill him."

"Like your Batman," Clark whispered after a moment of silence, eyes wide as the shocking realization slowly creep into his mind.

_"Yes,"_ Superman hissed, moving slightly away from Clark. His deep voice sending shivers down Clark's spine. He hadn't been expecting such a short, plain answer. There was so much raw emotion buried in that single word.

"Bruce, he ... he was magnificent. Deathly. Perfect." The hardness around Superman's eyes and mouth softened just barely as he lost himself in the memories, staring blankly ahead. "He had ... this way of acting, of handling himself that made you believe he was another super-powered God among the rest. Powerful. Invincible.

"At least until the rush of the battle was over and you saw the wounds and broken bones. The blood. And he just ... brushed them off like they didn't matter. As if his body hadn't just been torn apart."

Superman paused, fixing his cold, hard gaze on Clark's face again. "And by the time the next battle came, you had forgotten again. Until you saw his lifeless body sprawled in the middle of a wrecked street in a pool of his own blood. And you were remembered he was only human. Vulnerable. Fragile. _Breakable."_

"You need to tell me where he is," Clark demanded after a moment of thick silence, his voice slightly hoarse. He forced himself not to dwell on Superman's words too much. Not now. No matter how much he wanted to drop to his knees and bow his head in shame. He needed to get Bruce back. Then, and only then he could drown in guilt and shame.

Superman met his eyes for a moment before shaking his head, something akin to pity flashing in his eyes. "You don't understand. You can't. But I do, and I'm going to do_ anything_ to keep him safe."

"How are you going to keep him safe?"

"I'm going to do what you can't; I'm going to force him to see he can't keep foolishly risking his life fighting a losing battle." Superman lifted his chin almost defiantly, hard eyes looking into Clark's. "I will keep him in a safe place where nothing can hurt him ever again."

_"Force_ him? _Keep_ him? You're not talking about keeping him safe; you're talking about taking away his will and control him. Keeping him locked somewhere as nothing more than a possession or a prize," It was Clark who was glowing and glaring now, hands curled into fists at his sides. "So you're right, I can't do that. For the same reason you didn't stop this world's Bruce. Because that's how he is. Because fight bad guys and save lives is more than just a choice for him. Because taking that away from him would destroy him."

"Can't you see being Batman would end up destroying him anyway!?"

"I know," Clark admitted softly. It was something he had been afraid of almost from the moment he met Bruce. "But I also know I would never forgive myself if I took that choice from him. And neither would he."

Clark caught a flash of fragile sanity in his double's eyes, just for a second, before the angry hard gaze came back full force, burying any glimpse of it.

"I don't know why I'm wasting my time with you," He spat. "I don't care what you say. I'm not going to let you take him."

"I'm not asking for your permission," Clark growled before charging at the other man, fist connecting with invulnerable flesh and sending his double to crash on the ground.

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**a/n: **And that's it. What do you think? The original idea for this fic was Bruce and Clark being transported to an alternate universe, where that world's Superman kidnapped and injury Bruce, but somewhere along the way it turned into this. I like how this came out so that's why I'm posting it instead of start again and go along with my original idea.

I'm considering writing a second chapter where Clark find and "rescue" Bruce, so let me know if you would be interested in reading it!

This is my very first time writing for this fandom (though not the characters. I've written for Young Justice), so any comment or criticism would be very much appreciated. I'm also not a native speaker, so go ahead and point out any mistakes you find!


	2. Found

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Justice League or any of its characters. Really, I don't.

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Clark took to the sky, leaving behind the crystalline structure hidden among the mesmerizing whiteness of the snow in the middle of the Arctic.

It was beautiful. Massive and majestic. Glittering. It was an exact replica of his own Fortress of Solitude back home- except it wasn't. Not really. There was something about the place that made it seem, _feel,_ different. Empty and desolate. Colder somehow.

And there was no sign of Bruce there. No sign he had been there at all.

He defeated this world's Superman, though not without some difficulties -the same he always faced when he dealt with someone as strong and powerful as him- but it was clear from the beginning he wasn't going to tell him where Bruce was no matter what. He thought he was protecting him. On his own delirious, twisted way. So Clark was going to have to find him on his own.

His double was now locked up in one of the rooms on the Fortress, but Clark had no doubt he would be out of there as soon as he regained conscience. He had done his best to program the Fortress to keep him there, but well, he could understand the difficulty of maintaining not only a Kryptonian, but one that looked exactly like him locked up. Besides, it was _his_ Fortress, not Clark's.

Clark shook his head. It didn't matter, he just needed to find Bruce and then they would take care of Superman together. Or Bruce would, with the Kryptonite ring he was sure the other man was carrying in his utility belt.

It took him a few minutes to catch the first glimpse of Gotham's dark and cloudy sky. It was just the middle of the day and still, there was not even a weak beam of sunlight in the gray, shadowy city. Yet another exact replica, though this time of Bruce's beloved city.

Only a few seconds later the imposing towers of Wayne Manor materialized on the horizon. Clark halted to a stop in midair, descending slowly to land on one of the balconies on the second floor after a moment's thought. He didn't want to take the risk of some of this world's Batman's countermeasures in the Batcave being still in place.

He forced the large windows open easily, flying in. Standing in the middle of the room, Clark took a moment to scan the Manor with his x-ray vision, confirming his suspicion that the place was empty. In fact, the furniture in most rooms was covered with white sheets.

Clark closed his eyes, taking a moment to remind himself this alternative or parallel universe, hallucination, or whatever the hell this was wasn't his and Bruce's own reality, and therefore, this wasn't really Bruce's home. It didn't help much, just like it hadn't helped when he had been faced with the painful revelation of Bruce's death. Of the death of _this world's_ Bruce.

He really, really needed to find him. Clark flew downstairs to the grandfather clock that would allow him access to the cave before he could dwell further on it. He didn't dwell further in his relief either when said grandfather clock swung open with no problem and he descended into the cave.

The first thing that caught Clark's attention was the empty chair before the abandoned, dark bank of monitors in the cave. The Batcomputer, as Dick had named it, and how Clark called it too just to see Bruce's annoyed expression every time he did it. As he hovered just a couple of feet away, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen every single one of the screen turned off. There was always at least one screen light up with something running, even if Bruce wasn't anywhere near it.

He pulled his attention away to look around the cave, his gaze almost immediately drawn to the glass case displaying the Batsuit. He moved toward it without thinking.

Clark hovered in front of it just a second later, his eyes taking in the dark suit and empty cowl behind the glass. At first sight, it was nothing more than a replica of Bruce's suit, but watching closely, Clark noticed some small differences. A couple of clasps placed in parts where Bruce's suit didn't have them and some additional modifications to increase the suit's protection. Almost without thinking he took notice of every difference he found with the intention of mentioning them to Bruce when they were back. Not if, _when._

Eyes fixed in the suit, he reached out to touch the cold, flat surface. His finger stopped mere millimeters from touching the case when he heard it: the low, steady rhythm of a heartbeat, here in the cave.

A heartbeat. _Bruce's_ heartbeat that had been there the whole time just waiting to be heard. His own heartbeat speeding up Clark flew, following the almost mesmerizing sound to the back of the cave.

He wasn't able to differentiate between every heartbeat in the world. There were so many of them and the difference between each one was so slim that it was impossible. But it was easier for him to recognize the heartbeat of the people that were close to him. His Ma and Pa, Lois, Perry, Jimmy, the nice old lady that lived a few doors down in his apartment building that chatted him up amicably every time he saw him. And even Lex Luthor, after so many times having to find the criminal billionaire quickly. Of course, there were also the founders of the League, Bruce among them.

Listening for Bruce's heartbeat after a battle or news of trouble in Gotham had somewhere along the way become a habit for him. Something he did without a conscious thought anymore. He was sure Bruce would find it annoying if he knew. But then again, very little went past the Bat, so it was likely he already knew and simply let it go.

Clark flew into a part of the cave he had never seen before, the darkness swallowing him up as he moved far enough away from the main area, leaving any light behind. It was a good thing he could see in the dark as he moved further ahead. He came to stop in front of a lead-lined door set in the rock wall, leading Clark to believe this place, whatever it was, had been here before Superman took control of the cave.

The lock of the door had been melted down with a shot of heat vision, the sight making Clark clench his jaw. It made perfect sense because there was no lock Batman couldn't pick, even without his tools. But without that option, as strong as he was, there was no way for him to get out.

Without wasting any more time Clark reached to pull open the door with more force than necessary, blinking at the sudden brightness that attacked his eyes. The electrical system of the cave reached this room too, apparently.

Clark hovered just outside, wide eyes immediately drawn to the large four-poster bed placed almost in the middle of the room. The bed where an unconscious Bruce was lying on, breath slow and steady.

An unconscious Bruce wearing nothing but his underwear, arms and legs tied to the bedposts in a very vulnerable position. Clark forced himself to fly slowly into the room, hands balled into fists at his sides.

_"... Made you believe he was another super-powered God among the rest. Powerful. Invincible. At least until the rush of the battle was over and you saw the wounds and broken bones. The blood."_

Clark stopped short of reaching the bed, blue eyes wandering over Bruce's damaged body. He took in the endless pattern of bruises that always adorned the other man's body. Every bruise in different stages of healing; from a deep purple tone for the ones he got in the fight just a couple of hours ago, to a few in a yellowish shade that were about to fade, but would be replaced by new ones in no time.

Then there was the scarred, puckered skin that showed where the fresh had been stitched back together; some barely a few inches long and others as big as the one that when from his elbow to the palm of his hand. He saw all of the mended bones under his skin, some like his fingers, ribs, nose, and several bones in his arms that had been broken so many times that the bone hadn't regenerated completely. They were fully healed, but he could see small, almost millimetric degenerations in the bone structure that wouldn't ever go away.

He even saw a fresh white piece of gauze taped on the lower left side of Bruce's abdomen, covering a recent, almost four inches long cut.

Clark swallowed hard, looking down at the broken body of the bravest, most stubborn man he had ever met. And then, before he could understand what was happening, his back was hitting the wall behind him, his good reflexes the only thing stopping him from stumbling to the floor.

It happened in a matter of _seconds._ One moment Bruce was lying motionless on the bed; restrained and vulnerable, and the next he was free of his binding (which obviously had been loosened previously), charging at him. The strength of the attack and surprise of it giving Bruce the opportunity to make a run for the door, before Clark recovered enough to talk.

"Wait! B, it's me."

Bruce stopped a couple of feet outside the door, whole body rigid and tense as he turned around. Clark could see he was ready to fight or flight at the slightest provocation, even as his narrowed blue eyes assessed him.

Clark raised both of his hands up in surrender, the movement deliberately slow so as not to startle him. "We were fighting an army of robots with Wonder Woman and Flash when a beam was shot and I flew to where you were standing to try to get you out of the way."

The look on Bruce's face told him what the other man thought of his rescue attempt. And considering their current situation, Clark couldn't blame him.

"You took your time getting here."

Clark rolled his eyes, taking it as a sign he could move closer. "I'm glad to see you too."

"I suppose you've met your double already?" The light from the open door lighted the way as Bruce started walking away from the room without waiting for an answer.

"Yes," Clark answered simply, following Bruce as he started moving in the direction Clark had come from. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Where's he?"

"I left him locked up in the Fortress before coming to look for you," Clark saw the incredulous glance Bruce threw his way. "I didn't have a lot of time, alright? And unless you think I should have dragged him with me while I looked for you, leave him in the Fortress was the best idea I had. I don't know if you were alright so I had to move quickly."

Bruce didn't say anything to that. Clark hesitated. "Did he … did he, you know, _hurt_ you?"

Brow furrowed, Bruce turned his head to look at Clark. They were reaching the main area of the cave and the very faint beam of light barely visible ahead of them let him see the unguarded, worried expression on Clark's face.

"He didn't. He may be acting irrationally, but he's still Superman."

Bruce heard Clark suck in a breath, realizing too late why that had been the wrong thing to say. He didn't say anything, and neither did Clark. They both walked in silence for a moment after that.

"Then why are you, you know, uh, like that?" Clark made a vague gesture, feeling his cheeks heat up and keeping his eyes firmly on Bruce's face.

For as long as he had known the other man, Bruce had never been self-conscious about his body. Batman's protective suit, Bruce Wayne stylish clothes or even a pair of shorts; Bruce wore them all with the same grace and poise. But somehow, watching a half-naked Bruce walk stealthily around the darkened place after being abducted and locked up as if it were the most natural thing in the world was just wrong.

"He took out my suit to treat to my injuries," Bruce barely refrained from rolling his eyes, watching as Clark shot him a doubtful look. "I wasn't exactly forthcoming about his question, so he took the whole thing to make sure I wasn't hiding any other injuries."

They didn't stop walking once they left the darkness behind. Clark wasn't sure if Bruce was heading to a specific place in the cave, but didn't question him. He floated along with him, his feet only a couple of inches above the ground.

"I don't suppose you saw my suit somewhere when you came in."

Clark didn't answer, instead doing a quick sweep of the area with his x-ray vision. "It's not here."

Bruce cursed under his breath, resisting the urge to lift a hand to massage his temple. He could already feel a headache coming. Damn! He hated dimension travel. "What about any other suits?"

"There's nothing. Just the suit in the memori- uh, the glass case."

"Yes. I saw it when he flew me in." Bruce grimaced, long strides covering the distance to the case in seconds. Bruce stood motionless before the glass case for a second, maybe two, before starting to work it open.

That small hesitation was enough to let Clark know he didn't want to do it. He didn't want to put on that suit. He watched as Bruce's fingers brushed over one of the hidden buckles on the right shoulder; one of the several buckles Bruce's own suit didn't have.

"I could try to look for your suit." Clark offered softly, watching Bruce study the suit before pulling it out.

Bruce's only answer to that was a snort, and it wasn't until he had put on the lower part of the suit and was starting on the rest that he spoke again, rolling his eyes at Clark.

"You can stop looking at me like I'm going to burst into tears at any second now. The only reason I didn't want to use _this,"_ He jabbed a finger at the chest plates he had just put on. "Is Superman."

That made sense, somehow, but Clark could not focus enough to connect the pieces together.

"It's obvious he made this ... memorial, or whatever it's supposed to be," Bruce said, waving a hand in the direction of the now empty glass case. "How do you think he's going to react when he realizes we didn't only 'profane' it, but that I also took _his_ suit and I'm using it?"

Clark didn't have anything to say to that. With what he saw of Superman moments before, he was sure Bruce's prediction was spot on.

As soon as the boots were secured on his feet and with the cowl on his hand, Bruce moved fast, reaching the dark bank of monitors and sitting in the empty chair before them without hesitation.

Brow furrowed, Clark came to stand at Bruce's side, watching the screens come to live with just a couple of keystrokes from Bruce's gloved fingers.

"Uh, B?"

"We need information. We need to know if there's a Justice League. But most important, we need to know Superman's relationship with them to know if ask for their assistance to return home is an option. We can't rule out that their reaction might be similar to Superman's."

It wasn't long before the screens were filled with news articles, videos, photographs, and Bat-redacted files. He caught sight of a photo of Diana in one of the files, and one of Flash in a newspaper article.

But what immediately drew his attention was a video in one of the screens on the far right. The quality was poor (probably taken with a cell phone). It was the middle of a battle, he could tell. The camera was pointing up to the sky, taking on Superman shooting a beam of heat vision against one of the biggest creatures they were fighting-Clark wasn't sure what they were-. Then there was a final loud pounding sound, followed by screams as the camera shakily panned away.

In the middle of the smoke, dust and rubbles lay a still, dark figure on the ground. Clark wasn't sure if he was imagining the red tint around the body. He waited. One, two, three beats. Waited for the dark figure to move. Waited for a red and blue blur to descend beside the motionless body.

Neither happened. The screen went dark before the video started again, with Superman flying in the bright blue sky.

"The Justice League doesn't exist."

Clark's attention was snapped back to the present by Bruce's voice just seconds before the screen came to rest on the dark figure again for the third time.

He furrowed his brow as the words finally registered. "What? You mean it hasn't been formed yet?"

"No. I mean it doesn't _exist._ Not anymore."

Clark moved closer, his brow furrowing deeper with every word he read. Two years and five months since the League had been officially dissolved. Almost four since Batman's death.

"This- this can't be right. Where's Diana? And J'onn? Where- where's everyone else?"

"Diana and Shayera returned to Themyscira and Thanagar respectively. J'onn is a shapeshifter, so it's hard to say where he is. As for the rest, most of them are still out on the streets working. There have been some partnerships between them," With a keystroke a newspaper article showing Flash and Green Arrow together showed up on the screen. "But for the most part, they seem to stay in their own cities."

Clark stood there, heart hammering in his chest as his eyes took in the nightmare before him. How could the Justice League be just- gone? It made no sense. Find a Justice League different from his own would have been strange, but not impossible. And even if the concept of a League without Batman was simply wrong, he would have understood if the Justice League was yet to be formed. But this ... this he couldn't understand.

The prolonged silence that followed made Bruce turn his head slightly, lifting his eyes to look at Clark. He caught the lost expression on his face, the slightly furrowed brow as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Bruce couldn't blame him. He felt just as puzzled.

Clark's head snapped up, his x-ray vision confirming what his hearing had picked up.

"He's here."

Clark watched Bruce put on the cowl, and flew with him as they moved away from the bank of monitors. They came to a stop in an empty area of the cave just as Superman flew in, descending slowly to stand in front of them.

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**a/n:** I'm really sorry it took me so long to update this chapter. Real life got a bit in the way and then I struggled a bit in a few parts. But well, this chapter is a lot longer that I had anticipated so, I hope you guys are still interested in this. And also, thank you so much to everyone for the wonderful comments! It means a lot to me!

Anyway, I probably should have mentioned before that even if I keep going with this fic, there wouldn't be really technical or detailed answers about things like how they got there and stuff like that. This was mostly about Bruce and Clark interaction, and their reactions visiting a world where Batman is death.

Also, for those reading about the League's disintegration and rolling their eyes being like: "Yeah, right. Batman is the best ever and so the League can't work without him" I assure you that's not my take on it, and would be explained further in the next chapter. I love Batman, and I think he's a very important part of the League, I just don't think is fair or realistic thinking that the League will fall apart without him. There's only one chapter left, which I hope will be posted sooner than this one.


	3. Confrontation

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Justice League or any of its characters. Sadly.

This chapter is especially dedicated to the people patiently waiting for it, and also to those who commented or showed interest in the story, even when it had passed so long without an update. Thank you so much, and I'm deeply sorry for the super long wait!

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Clark watched with narrowed eyes and accelerated heart rate as Superman appeared. He stood still, all senses on alert. His double's eyes blazed crimson as they zeroed in on Bruce right away, red cape billowing behind him as he descended slowly, not even sparing a glance in Clark's direction.

He had never given much thought to the way he looked to humans, even if, subconsciously, he knew aside from his intentions, his powers were a good enough reason for people to be afraid or, at least, intimidated by him. Now, watching the other Superman descend from the sky, all power and strength laced dangerous together; looking like an avenging god ready to take on anyone who stood in his way, Clark had to admit it was an intimidating sight even for him.

Without looking away from the imposing figure, Clark shifted slightly to stand between his friend and his double, receiving a low growl from Bruce in protest. And just like that, the red tint in Superman's eyes was gone, and the harsh lines around his mouth and eyes relaxed. Clark blinked at the sudden change.

"I should have known you weren't going to stay locked up for long," Superman said, tone sounding exasperatedly fond.

"You should have," Bruce growled. And it was Batman's low growl, regardless of the fact the other two people in the cave with him knew who he was behind the mask. Clark didn't miss the stiffness of his double's shoulders at the reply, and could even feel bad for him because it was yet another harsh and cold reminder that in spite of the appearances, this was not the man he knew; the man he fought alongside countless battles, and the man he called his friend.

Superman's face hardened one more time, but he didn't look away from Bruce. The Bat held his gaze, muscles tense under the dark suit.

It was uneasy, the way Superman changed moods at the smallest and most random provocation, but Clark couldn't find it in himself to blame him. He couldn't even begin to imagine how confusing it must be to have someone you watched_ die_ alive and well before you, even if you knew it wasn't the same person.

Still, Clark cared more about returning home with Bruce than worry too much about this world's Superman's pain and grief, no matter how much he empathized.

"It's over. You need to let us go," He called, drawing his double's attention to him for the first time since he entered the cave. He didn't look away under the weight of Superman's glare, even as he towered over them.

"Nobody is stopping you. You can leave right now, I don't care."

Clark shook his head, fist clenched at his sides as he looked up at him. "I'm not leaving without him."

"That's too bad because he isn't going anywhere," Superman sneered.

"I'm not asking for your permission," Bruce growled in reply, breaking the glaring contest between both Supermen and making them turn back to look at him.

"That's good because I'm not going to give it to you," Superman replied with narrowed eyes. "You have proven time and time again your inability to stay out of harm's way, so I will take matters into my own hands and I will keep you alive, at any cost."

The gauntlets covering Bruce's hands creaked slightly as he curled them into fists. How dare he! "I can take care of myself. I don't need you or anyone else to look after me."

"I disagree. And the tombstone outside with your name on it only proves I'm right."

"Enough!" Clark shouted. He swallowed hard before turning to address his double. "I know you want to protect him. I know you only want him to be safe and that's why you're doing this, but we can't stay here. Bruce can't stay here," Clark stressed since it was clear Superman couldn't care less about him. "You have to know how sensitive the matter of dimensional travel is. There could be serious consequences for both our universes if we altered the space-time continuum.

"Besides, we have families that expect us back."

Bruce watched Superman with eyes narrowed behind the lenses of the cowl. The growing uncertainty in the turquoise eyes made him believe, just for a second that Superman would understand and do the right thing. That would have been too easy, though.

"No. I'm not going to let you take him."

Clark glared back at his double, but before he could say anything Bruce spoke again, deep voice solemn.

"Do you remember the first time you and Batman met? The moment you found out who was the man behind the mask?"

Superman watched him with furrowed brows. "Of course I remember! What does that-?"

"I don't," Bruce replied simply but not unkindly. "I don't remember any of it because it didn't happen to me. That was not_ my_ life. The man you met, the man you knew is gone now and he's not coming back.

"I'm not him and I wouldn't become him."

A myriad of emotions flashed across Superman's face while Bruce spoke, gone before Clark could identify them, but the anger flared hot and dark. "I know that! That's not what this is about! I'm not trying to _replace_ him! I'm trying to keep you safe, damn it!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Clark saw the tense clench of Bruce's jaw and tight fists. In that second he knew whatever he was about to say wasn't going to be pretty, but he didn't even try to stop him.

"Stop acting like a self-centered child," Bruce growled sharply. "You have no right to decide what I can or can't do. I'm old enough to take my own decisions, and I have. I don't need nor want your protection.

"I'm sorry he's dead. I'm sorry you're alone now, but I'm not staying here just to make _you_ feel better."

Silence settled in the cave once Bruce put an end to his tirade. Clark didn't dare to move as Bruce kept glaring openly at Superman, while his double stared back, darkened eyes fixed on Bruce's face hidden behind the cowl.

"Let's go, Clark."

The words snapped Superman out of his stupor and before they could move, he was hovering only a foot away from where they stood, blocking their path. His eyes were flaring an even darker shade of red this time and his mouth twisted into a snarl.

"No, you're not. I'm sure you already noticed there's something missing from the belt you took."

Bruce clenched his jaw. He had reached for the especial compartment in the belt for the Kryptonite after reading about the League's separation, only to find it empty. Superman had arrived before he could say anything to Clark.

"You can keep it. We don't need it."

Clark saw the second Superman started to raise his hand -to strike or grab Bruce, he had no idea- but he acted before he could do anything. Using his double's distraction he lunged forward, sending him crashing into the wall. Superman recovered quickly, responding with a punch that sent Clark reeling back.

Bruce wasted no time disappearing as the battle started, not wanting to risk being caught in the middle of a shot of heat vision or ice breath. He was under no illusion to believe the two Kryptonians couldn't see him, but he wasn't trying to hide anyway, much less stay out of the fight. Clark was going to need help if he kept fighting like that.

From where he was perched now on the cave's rafters, he was also throwing gadgets from the belt to distract Superman and give Clark an edge, trusting Clark to keep his double busy to avoid a direct attack, even if he was also changing positions after throwing each one.

With Clark down there too, he had to be careful of the gadgets he used, not to mention time his attacks just right to hit the correct Superman.

Shards of glass went flying all around after Clark was thrown against the lab area in the cave, the microscope that had been on the work table dropping with a loud thud only a couple of feet away from his head. He rolled out of the way and lifted from the ground as a shot of heat vision headed his way, countering the attack with one of his own only to have an explosive batarang falling down on Superman a second later.

With a batarang held between his fingers, Bruce watched the wreckage under him. As he hit his target, he couldn't help but feel relieved this wasn't actually _his_ cave, as selfish and ill-timed as that was.

Superman was fighting sloppy; letting anger direct his movements instead of fighting with purpose. He was lashing out blindly, which was making only a handful of his attacks connect with his opponent. Between that and Bruce's distractions, Clark should have no problem to subdue him fairly quickly, but he was holding back.

Clark managed to pin Superman to the ground with minimal damage, struggling to keep the trashing man down without using his full strength.

"Stop," Clark whispered. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Shut up and fight!" Superman snarled before head-butting Clark with enough force to daze him momentarily, giving his double time to free himself. He was breathing heavily, more so than Clark himself, but he wasn't going to give up, Clark knew.

Bruce saw the moment Clark stopped pulling his punches; he still wasn't fighting at one hundred percent, but he was attacking now instead of just deflecting and blocking attacks. Even so, between the two of them, they could possibly take care of Superman without much problem. Bruce held a pellet between his thumb and index finger, watching and waiting.

It didn't take much longer for Clark to get the upper hand, but that didn't mean the fight was over. Superman kept fighting with all his might, even when Clark adjusted his hold to keep him on the ground.

Even after he saw Clark pin Superman down to the floor for more than a couple of seconds, Bruce didn't move. He waited. Waited until Clark's breath was even; until his grip stopped shaking and Superman stopped actively struggling in his hold. Only then he disappeared, leaving both Supermen behind.

Clark drew in a breath, tightening his grip slightly when he heard Bruce move away.

"You're a_ fool,"_ The man on the floor whispered, a trickle of blood streaming down from the corner of his mouth and pure hater in his turquoise eyes. "You're a damned fool."

"I'm sorry for doing this, but you left us no choice."

"You don't understand, but you will. You will understand and you will regret doing this. _Every single day."_

Clark said nothing.

"You will regret it when you have to pick up his broken body from the concrete and your hands are soaked in his blood. When they have to pry his lifeless body from your arms, and you have to stand aside as they lower his body to the ground." Superman swallowed before continuing in a low, thick voice. "You will regret it every time you search for a heartbeat that isn't there anymore."

The tremors that had started wracking his body shortly after Superman began speaking were worse now, and he was even having trouble to breathe. Feeling physically sick, weak, Clark drew back from where he had been pinning his double, sitting on the floor as he tried to fight nausea. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Superman. He was still lying on the floor; curling up on himself, a grimace of pain on his face.

It- it made no sense.

There was a flash of black, and when Clark blinked again Superman was lying unconscious on the ground and was Bruce standing at his side. Still lightheaded, he caught a flash of green on Bruce's closed fist before the hand moved to the belt around his waist. The gloved palm was open when it came back to view.

The pain was already ebbing away with the Kryptonite safely shielded in the lead-lined compartment of the utility belt, but his powers were going to need some time to return. Clark shook his head, trying to focus.

"I- I thought he had the Kryptonite."

"You didn't think the Kryptonite in the belt is the only one I have, did you," Bruce replied.

Clark watched him without a word. Maybe he should be angry to find out Bruce had more Kryptonite on his power than the Kryptonite ring he gave him, but he wasn't. Every piece of kryptonite that was in Bruce's hands was Kryptonite that wouldn't end at the hands of criminals, not to mention he was glad Bruce had the means to protect himself and others if he ever needed it.

"We need to get to work," Bruce said, drawing back Clark's attention as he held out a hand to help him up.

He swallowed, and with one last look at Superman, Clark took it.

* * *

...

* * *

**a/n: **Wow. You would not believe how damn sorry I'm for taking_ years_ to post this chapter. As some of you may already know, I had some troubles back then and lost what I had written and I got so mad that I stayed away from writing, and even longer from this story. Once I got past my tantrum, I discovered it wasn't as easy as I thought to go back to this, and I was getting other ideas as well, so I decided to give it time and come back to this fic later. It obviously took me a lot longer than I would have imagined and for that, I apologize.

I'd like to think it ended up better than my lost first draft, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. All this time as well as writing this has inspired yet another chapter, contrary to what I had planned for making this a three-shot. I haven't started working on it since I'm posting this chapter as soon as I finished it, but I will be working on it.


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